6 face charges in south suburban drug ring

November 23, 2010

FBI agents and police officers arrested five people allegedly involved in a drug ring in the south suburbs after authorities listened in on their cell phone calls and made undercover drug buys from them in an 18-month investigation, according to the FBI.

Federal authorities are still seeking a sixth man in the drug ring, which allegedly used south suburban Robbins as its center of operations, according to a news release from the FBI.

The five already in custody were arrested in early-morning raids Monday and appeared in federal court later in the day, where federal Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan ordered them held without bail pending their next court appearance.

The five, four men from Robbins between the ages of 27 and 33 and one from Calumet Park, face various federal drug charges and penalties if convicted of between 5 years and life in prison, according to the FBI.

During the investigation, which involved the Cook County Sheriff's Office and the FBI, authorities seized a little more than a pound of cocaine and about $7,000 in cash.

Arrested Monday were Robbins residents Jeremy Jackson, 27, of the 13400 block of south Monticello Avenue, Marcus Jones, 29, of the 13600 block of south Monticello, and Jeffrey D. Moses, 33, and Bruce D. Whittler, 31, of the same address in the 13500 block of south Monticello, and Calumet Park resident Tavaris McGregor, 33, of the 12400 block of south Throop Street in that south suburb.

A federal manhunt continues for John Payne, 29, of 13630 S. Hamlin Street in Robbins, a sixth defendant in the case.